Latest news from ALIGN
The SEND White Paper: Opportunity, Challenge, and the Urgent Need to Be Seen
By Rachel Girling Over the past decade, the landscape of education for children and young people with additional needs has been steadily shifting, but in recent years that shift has accelerated significantly. More families are reaching out for support, more children...
SEND Reform and the Invisible Child
As a network of non-school Alternative Provision (AP) providers, we welcome the ambition of the SEND reform to create a more inclusive, consistent and less adversarial system. The focus on earlier intervention, clearer standards, and improved accountability is both...
Chaos and Shape: Navigating Transitions in Non-School AP
Like everyone else concerned with the non-school AP sector, I’ve been reflecting on the implications of the government’s drive towards all children receiving their education in school. Since January, providers have been wrestling with the challenges of delivering...
Banning mobile phones in schools – an AP perspective
There is evidence which suggests that some children are distracted by mobile phones in class and that this impacts on academic outcomes. There are also studies which indicate that abusive use of phones accounts for a significant percentage of behavioural problems...
Navigating the Quiet Crisis in SAM Liability Insurance
Over the past few months, I’ve found myself dealing with an unexpected challenge - one that most people outside education would never think about, and one that even many inside the sector didn’t realise was brewing. It’s about insurance. But not just any insurance....
Do the time limited placements support high standards?
Do the time limited placements support high standards? At the end of August the DfE published its much-anticipated Non-school Alternative Provision: Voluntary National Standards Framework; at the same the DfE’s response to last year’s consultation with...